Product Innovation | Specialists in microchip and scanning technology

Halo
Microchip
Scanner

Pet Technology Store is the winner of Guernsey’s 2015 Bill Green Award for entrepreneurial spirit. The company have been specialising in microchip and scanning technology since 2008, designing and developing products on-island and selling to a global customer base.

Their leading product is the “Halo Microchip Scanner”, a hand-held device that enables the automatic recognition of micro-chipped missing animals. This device is linked to “Scanner Angel”, a unique, patented database that is downloaded to the scanner and updated every time the Halo is connected to a computer to give the most up-to-date information on missing animals.

With other devices, the scanner will show you a 15-digit number and the user must call various national databases to see which one the missing animal is on. Instead, the Halo alerts the user if the microchip being scanned belongs to an animal that has been reported missing and which of the UK databases it is registered on. This is a unique and patented feature. Furthermore, the scanner is almost a quarter of the price of competing products.

Going
global

During 2015 production was around 1,500 units per month with units being sold all over the world including the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Dubai, UAE and all over Europe.

Applications

Although Pet Technology Store's core business is in the pet products market, they are able to apply their expertise in other markets as their design and development activities all take place in-house.

In particular, the applications for the Halo reach much wider than the pet market. As an example, since the PIP breast implant scandal all silicone breast implants are now microchipped, and Lloyds of London ensure due diligence by only insuring breast implants that have been microchipped. There are moves to make this an industry standard practice, to ensure that all medical implants and prosthetics have full traceability from manufacture through to implant and into the post-operative period. It means that when a patient is scanned, the doctor will have all the up-to-date and historic data relating to that particular implant.

The Halo is also currently being reviewed and assessed by the American Food and Drug Administration for use in human medicine, and there are plans to license the Halo software to other manufacturers in the near future.

Meanwhile, Pet Technology Store’s innovation continues, with a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi model of the Halo Microchip Scanner in development. This will allow details to be immediately downloaded onto a computer or smart phone when an animal is scanned or when an implant is scanned in a theatre environment.

The video below is from the 2016 Guernsey Awards for achievement where Pet Technology Store was shortlisted for the The BWCI Innovation Award.

Learn More

To learn more about IP products and legislation in Guernsey please visit the IPO website.

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